United States v. Willard Jeffries

HARLINGTON WOOD, Jr., Circuit Judge.

This case serves as another reminder that the Bible, although regarded with great reverence by multitudes, may not always be a reliable substitute for the tax code. Plaintiff-appellant Willard Jeffries, who testified in his own behalf, explained that after studying the Bible he determined that he could become a one-person church and thereby be excused from paying his income taxes. Sometime later he found himself charged with four counts of violating 26 U.S.C. § 7201, alleging a wilful attempt to evade his federal income tax for the tax years 1980-83, and…